Martial Arts Returnee’s Game Broadcast

Chapter 30

1. [Story Mode]

As the darkness blanketing the Great Forest lifted,
a picturesque rainbow stretched across the devastated field,
and warm sunlight broke through the sky.

The forest, which had suffered for 20 years under the grip of a single yokai,
finally found peace.

But this joy belonged to only one.
Only one being could leave the barrier alive.

"Don’t make that face,"
"Hey, I’m really, really happy right now."
"I got my revenge, and I even saw my parents again."

The young Inmyeon Jiju smiled brightly,
her body already half-submerged in the swamp,
awaiting the inevitable end.

"Thank you for granting my request.
Without you, revenge would’ve been impossible."

Her serene acceptance and final words,
spoken as if everything had already been resolved,
were something the Silent Swordswoman could not accept.

She thrust a broken tree branch toward the young Inmyeon Jiju,
determined to pull her out of the acidic swamp.

It was the first time she had genuinely fought to save someone—
an NPC she’d only met in the game today.

This display of sincerity left a deep impression not only on the struggling Inmyeon Jiju
but also on the viewers watching the stream.

• "She’s more serious about NPCs than anyone else!"
• "This supporting character deserves to live, honestly."
• "Can someone figure out how to save the Inmyeon Jiju, please?"
• "There’s no guide for this."
• "This is a first clear; where would a guide come from?"
• "?????"
• "This is the downside of being a trailblazer."

Of course, not all viewers were sympathetic.

• "Stop overreacting, lol."
• "Why are people making a big deal out of data dying?"
• "She’s making more eye contact with the Silent Swordswoman than me. Hurry up and die already!"
• "She didn’t cry for the exploding suicide ghosts. Why is she so attached to the Inmyeon Jiju?"
• "Next up: Suicide Ghost sympathy stream."

Yet among the growing audience, there were clever ones as well.

• "If she dies, it’ll be five minutes of mourning followed by stream shutdown. Save the Jiju at all costs!"

This witty remark unified the chat into one desperate mission: save the Inmyeon Jiju.

• "Oh no, not this again."
• "Mom, are we going to space again?"
• "Somebody call a doctor!"
• "Wait, I know a veterinary streamer!"
• "Send them a clip!!"
• "Can a vet treat a half-yokai spider though?"
• "Maybe a zookeeper?"
• "There’s a channel called Animal Guardians with 150k subs. Let’s send it there!"

Clips of the scene were exported in every direction as the viewers scrambled for solutions.
Unaware of their frantic efforts,
the young Inmyeon Jiju gazed at the desperate Silent Swordswoman with a mixture of gratitude and guilt.

"I don’t like this… having friends."
"If I’d known it would hurt this much to say goodbye,
I wouldn’t have asked to be your friend."
"You didn’t forget, did you?
Only one of us can leave this barrier alive."
"So stop this pointless effort."

But the Silent Swordswoman refused to listen.
She pulled the Jiju’s legs free from the swamp,
her trembling hands betraying the emotional weight of her actions.

• "How is she going to save her??"
• "The swamp’s acidic! Her body’s literally dissolving!"
• "?????????"
• "She’s not going to make it..."
• "Space suits ready, everyone."
• "Somebody call a zookeeper already!"

Suddenly, a donation message appeared:

<Animal Guardian has donated ?10,000!>
‘We regret to inform you that it’s time to prepare for the end.’

• "Confirming the worst…???"
• "Why bring in a vet just to say goodbye, lol?"
• "Don’t blame the vet! Apologize!"
• "No, the Silent Swordswoman owes us an apology.
  She’s about to throw us all into space again."

Despite the chaos in the chat,
the Silent Swordswoman’s focus never wavered.

She reached out to touch the Jiju’s face,
but the young yokai batted her hand away with her remaining limb.

"Don’t do something so foolish."
"Don’t you know humans can become tainted by touching yokai or half-yokai bodies?"
"I’ve already shown you enough of my pathetic side. Let it end here."

Shaking her head, the Silent Swordswoman persisted.

The young Jiju used her legs to draw the Silent Swordswoman’s blade.
She held it out, trembling.

"End it for me.
So I can leave this place alongside my parents."

The blade, heavy in her trembling hands,
led to the appearance of a familiar prompt:

?Interaction Choices?

1. Reveal your true name.
2. I can’t do that (attempt rescue).
3. End her suffering.

The final decision had appeared.
Though there were three choices,
everyone knew what had to be chosen:

The Silent Swordswoman.
The dying Inmyeon Jiju.
And every viewer watching.

"One minute remaining until the barrier closes."

The screen blurred,
her mind flashing back to memories she wished to forget.

The Silent Swordswoman’s vision turned white,
and memories she had buried surged forward unbidden.

"There’s no sea the Hae Nam Sect cannot conquer, child."
"Miss Hae, I hope you won’t hold too much resentment for the Plum Blossom Sword of Mount Hua."
"‘Self-righteous Enchantress’? Hah! Such a trivial nickname doesn’t suit you. Don’t forget,
even Master Paeng Cheol-san of the Hebei Paeng Clan acknowledged your skill as the Sword Monarch."

She remembered those who had protected her.

"I’m sorry, sister. If my survival puts you in danger, then…"
"You know it’s impossible for both of us to survive the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, don’t you?
Please, take my inner energy."
"Survive, Commander. Your unworthy subordinate will go ahead."

She also remembered those she had failed to save.

The pain of helplessness weighed down on her,
threatening to drag her into the despair she thought she had overcome.
Just as her mind began to spiral into the depths of old anguish,

"Smile for me."

The young Inmyeon Jiju’s soft voice cut through the fog of her thoughts.

"I want to see your smiling face one last time."

Her trembling hands reached out to the Jiju,
but the yokai’s limb gently rested on hers instead.

"You really can’t smile properly, can you?"
"You’re such a fool."

The young Jiju smiled brightly,
a refreshing and serene expression that seemed out of place amidst the desolation.

"My mom always told me this is how you smile."

With those words, the Jiju made her choice.

? (End her suffering)

Splurt!

The young Inmyeon Jiju impaled herself on the blade,
releasing herself from the pain and sorrow,
while using her remaining strength to push the Silent Swordswoman out of the barrier.

"!!"

The Silent Swordswoman stumbled backward,
reaching out desperately toward the Jiju’s fading smile,
but the barrier sealed shut.

"The barrier is now closed."

Within the confines of the barrier, the young Jiju’s body disappeared,
leaving no trace of her behind.

Tears streamed down the Silent Swordswoman’s face.
Her clenched fists trembled as blood seeped from her palms.
Her silent screams went unanswered,
as another bond forged in blood and battle slipped away forever.

"You really can’t smile properly, can you?"

The young Jiju’s words echoed in her mind,
mocking her futile efforts to smile.
No matter how much she tried to force her lips into a smile,
her expression only grew stranger and more distorted.

Finally, she let all expression fade from her face,
leaving behind a mask of emotionless calm.

Five minutes passed.

Whether five minutes felt short or unbearably long,
the silence was finally broken.

[? End Game]
[? The Silent Swordswoman has ended the stream.]

As 6,600 prepared viewers and 350 new ones watched the broadcast end,
they were collectively flung into the void of "space."

• "What kind of stream throws you into emotional space the moment you tune in?!"
• "Mayday! Mayday! We’re 6,950 space refugees drifting aimlessly. Requesting backup. Over."
• "This is NASA ground control. We’ve also been stranded. Over."
• "LMAO."
• "If even NASA’s stranded, who’s going to save us?!"
• "Mom, why are there twinkling lights in the sky?"
• "Those are the tears of the Silent Swordswoman’s viewers, my dear."
• "That was… so Inmyeon Jiju of her."
• "What do you mean?"
• "She’s as tragic as that damn Jiju. She’s making us all cry!"

2. [Post-Stream Reflections]

Posts flooded forums and social media,
filled with reflections on the stream.

[“The Saddest Five Minutes in Streaming History”]
[“(RIP) Inmyeon Jiju Highlight Reel”]
[“Even if my friend died, I wouldn’t cry this hard”]

Despite only three streams,
totaling barely two hours of runtime,
the Silent Swordswoman’s broadcasts had left a profound impact.

• "Isn’t the Silent Swordswoman amazing?"

• "Finding so many hidden details in a 10-year-old game takes real talent."

• "Agreed."

• "It’s not just talent; it’s the way she immerses herself in the game."

• "True. Sometimes I feel like she forgets she’s streaming."

• "But that’s why her two-hour streams hit so hard."

• "When she forced a smile after the Jiju died… I felt that.
  It was heartbreaking."

Yet, for every heartfelt post, there were trolls.

• "When’s her next stream?"
• "Probably in a month. She seemed devastated."
• "She might quit streaming entirely after that."
• "Hey, that’s harsh."
• "But didn’t it feel that way? Like she was done for real this time."

With no scheduled return,
viewers who had grown accustomed to the harsh goodbyes of martial arts dramas
began scouring the internet for anything related to the Silent Swordswoman’s content.

[Refugees Assemble!]

Countless fans migrated to community forums,
creating makeshift hubs to share their grief and memories.

One streamer, ever the opportunist,
capitalized on this migration:
Eom Gil-dong,
creator of the popular "Silent Swordswoman Simulation" series.

"Welcome, refugees! Feeling those Silent Swordswoman withdrawal symptoms?
Same here. That’s why I’ve prepared something special for today!"

• "What’s he got?"
• "Big things incoming!"

"Today’s content?
Silent Swordswoman Simulator Version 1.2!
And this month’s NPC of honor is the one and only… Inmyeon Jiju!"

• "Wow, it’s Inmyeon Jiju!"
• "I can’t resist anything with her in it."
• "Wait, what exactly are we doing with her though?"
• "Didn’t you say you wouldn’t reuse old content?"

"Ah, but Version 1.1 and 1.2 are entirely different!
This one has a new map, you see."

• "LOL, okay."
• "A version update is legit."
• "So, uh, what’s the new map?"

"The newly added map is the Great Forest Speedrun Mode!
We’re racing to see how fast you can traverse the same field where the Silent Swordswoman fought the Inmyeon Jiju!"

• "Amazing!"
• "An instant classic!"
• "I knew you’d come through, Eom Gil-dong!"
• "This is going to be awesome!"
• "Wait, isn’t it just running through the map though?"
• "Who cares, just enjoy it!"

Eom Gil-dong’s clever and timely content,
capitalizing on the Silent Swordswoman’s impact,
drew over 2,000 concurrent viewers—
a testament to his success in entertaining the wandering "refugees."

3. [A New Inmyeon Jiju Legacy]

"No, you ridiculous Inmyeon Jiju! Stop running ahead and let me catch up!"

• "LMAO, left him behind again!"
• "The Jiju’s so fast, it’s crazy."

By the time 24 hours had passed since the release of Silent Swordswoman Simulator Version 1.2,
the affectionate "Inmyeon Jiju" had transformed into the infamous "Hateful Jiju."

• "Why is this Jiju so much faster than us?!"
• "Eom Gil-dong got ditched AGAIN!"
• "This is the funniest thing I’ve seen all week."